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Tips to Successfully Manage a Hair Salon

Successful salon management involves keeping a tight ship and making sure you know what your clientele wants. Here are several great tips to help you manage: Trends Keeping up on current hairstyle trends in your area is a must. Make it a priority to know what looks are trending so that you and your salon can stay current by learning new techniques to appeal to your market. Look and Listen
 Pay attention to your clientele. To what they say, and moreso what their body language says. What does it say if a customer says they love their new look, but you never see them again? Some people are hesitant to voice their opinion, so you have to watch them closely. If their body language is telling you something, or their facial expressions look concerned or disappointed, politely offer another option. Pricing While you may not want to offer your services at prices so low that customers see it as sub-par work, you need to make sure you aren’t charging so much that they can’t afford to come back a week or month down the road. Look for a balance between too high and too low. Variety Think about turning your hair salon into a full service salon. Look into offering facials and other spa services, as well as manicures and pedicures. Also, be certain you cover all of your bases with hair by offering cutting, coloring, styling, and texture services and even some specialties like extensions. Dress Code
 Set a dress code with clear and defined limits for your staff. If in doubt go for all black or even neutrals. In addition to helping hide hair color stains, black is a very universal color that is easy to fit into any wardrobe style. Environment Your customers are looking for a warm and inviting salon so that they feel comfortable. It’s important that you provide them with a welcoming environment that is clean and well kept. Remember that first impressions are everything! Controlling Overhead  Another important factor in successfully managing a hair salon is to keep tight control of your overhead. Do your research and know what retail products your clientele will purchase to avoid having a surplus of merchandise. Limit the number of employees your salon hires to just what’s needed and then hire accordingly as you grow. While it is sometimes a good idea to have stylists that specialize in a specific area, it is also important that most stylists have the necessary skills to meet most every customer’s needs. You can also improve your bottom line by reducing office work or eliminating overly redundant employees. Ask yourself, are your stylists really too busy to take time between clients to tidy up themselves? That would lessen the need for a cleaning crew or for them to come as often. Also, consider salon scheduling software to help eliminate the need for a dedicated receptionist or as many receptionists. What other ideas can you think of to help effectively manage your salon?
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The Art of Promotion

Do you find yourself at a loss when it comes to effective ways to promote your services, sell product and build your business? The truth is that learning how to do effective marketing promotion is essential to keep the salon doors open and to maintain a clientele hungry for your salon’s offerings. Own it Before you start promoting anything, make sure to choose an idea, product, or service that you really believe in—not something that you just find interesting or that a product manufacturer is pushing. Also be certain in whatever you promote before you start singing its praises. If you’re not ready to believe in what you’re promoting, then how can you expect anyone else to believe in it? A Better Offering One of the best ways to make marketing easier is to offer something that is simple to promote, and if you’re lucky, sells itself to some level. Consider enhancing an existing salon service, adding to your color line to accommodate trends or expanding your retail  – all simple ideas that build on existing offerings and increase your value to your clients. Value First If you want to be a great promoter, start by showing clients how your product or service can provide value. For example, you want to bolster your referral business (and bottom line) and you are willing to offer a free conditioning treatment for every referral that leads to a booking. You don’t start by asking your clients to serve up their friends and family as referrals, instead lead with the reward or benefit, in this case the free conditioning treatment. Something like: “How would you like a free conditioning treatment? Simply refer a friend and I’ll add it to your next service.” Simple stuff! Problem Solve Instead of offering a service or product and looking for a way to sell it, be on the lookout for problems to solve. Listen to clients when they mention an issue they are having with their hair and then find a way to offer a solution. For example: You are having an especially humid season and your clients complain about frizz. The solution may be to amp up your promotions for smoothing services and to offer more retail products to smooth and seal hair. Use the problem to your benefit with well-positioned “Frizz-Busting Solutions” in your advertising and salon promotions. Consider aptly designed point of purchase (POP) displays, mirror decals or signage at each station, mentions on social media, as well as in direct marketing pieces such as email blasts. In such a case, you effectively identified the problem and offered a solution, not get the word out there!
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Carrying the Torch – Artist Spotlight

Known in the Southern California area for their precision shear sharpening skills, Nick Cutter and his daughter Nicki were the first father /daughter sharpening team in America. They enjoyed working together in the mobile aspect of their family-owned business where Nicki, the first female Master Sharpener in the nation, was quickly growing her own territory. When not in the field Nick, a seasoned industry veteran and a Grand Master Sharpener, worked the home office along with his wife Ramona, a licensed Cosmetologist, where he serviced mail-in orders. For five years Nick was also president of the National Shear Sharpeners Guild (NSSG), a respected and longest running association for educating and board certifying sharpeners of professional haircutting scissors. During much of that time Nicki proudly assisted along side her father for meetings and events, and was heavily involved in the education process. The father / daughter duo seemed to find the perfect balance between family and business, and flourished in a field they loved so dearly. On a fateful day in August of 2012 37-year-old Nicki found herself in the hospital facing a deadly diagnosis of advanced cancer. She didn’t even have time to get her affairs in order before she lost her battle in a matter of a month. Sadly Nicki left behind her parents, a new husband, two teenage daughters, and a very loyal, stunned and heartbroken clientele.

Tragedy Sparks Inspiration

Fast-forward to 2015 and a bustling salon environment is the backdrop for a class of future salon professionals ready to make their mark on the industry. In the mix at Paul Mitchell The School San Diego is Kyla Rose, an eager young blonde with a recognizable spark. Proud to be Nicki’s daughter and Nick and Ramona’s granddaughter, Kyla enrolled in the school and devoted her time and energy to her education. She even won a partial Paul Mitchell scholarship with an essay she wrote about her mom. Now set to graduate late June 2015, Kyla is looking forward to carrying on the family tradition in her own signature way. Described as a joyful ray of light much like her mom, this extroverted social butterfly considers herself to be a new age alchemist, as she sees it as her calling to help make others feel confident. “Building an artistic, healthy presence and unique impression is important to me. By focusing on a person’s inner essence, I am able to bring out into the open who they truly are,” said the rising star. Kyla specifically loves the cutting aspect of her craft and is excited to see men paying more attention to appearance and grooming.  She is also drawn to makeup and sees it as a way of creating an artistic expression on a human canvas. IMG_1139a In addition to the required hours at the academy, Kyla participated in many outside activities during her time in beauty school. She modeled for NAHA, did makeup for a designer fashion show in Los Angeles, and did hair and makeup on her own models for a BEACON photo shoot. 3 up When asked about how her family influenced her decision to enter the beauty industry, Kyla said, “Mom influenced me by pushing, guiding, and loving me and I learned by seeing her be successful in this business. She had a big personality and I loved seeing how happy and uplifted people were after she came around.” She continued, “I grew up around the beauty industry so I watched Grandpa and Gramona (Grandma Ramona), who is also a wonderful mentor, work hard at the family business. They are both independent and successful, and support our whole family through their hard work.” IMG_2243aKyla is ready to roll up her sleeves and dive into her future headfirst. She clearly wants to make a difference in the world and the industry she grew up in, and above it all, to make her family proud. “The universe is on my side,” Kyla said, continuing, “and so is my family!” Keep up with Kyla and watch her career blossom by following her at kylarosestyle.com.  
Photo captions top-bottom:
1. Kyla touching up her models on set with her mentor, Reno Prezio, looking on.  Photo by Natasha Gerschon.
2. Results of editorial shoot with photographer Natasha Gerschon. Hair and Makeup by Kyla Rose.
3. Nick Cutter and Kyla Rose – photo by Gramona.
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Measuring the Success of Your Business

Salon owners and booth or suite renters, do you ever wonder how you can tell if your business is a success?  Is it enough to put in 12-14 hour days or to promote your services endlessly? While only time will tell if a business is successful or not, here are five simple ways to determine whether or not yours is on the right path. In the Black Profitability, or running your books “in the black,” is probably the first thing people think about when measuring success. Basically, is the business making money? If there’s any money left after paying your monthly bills, then you are doing something right. However, if you find that your bottom line is always running “in the red,” your chances of success become much less likely. A Growing Clientele Having a clientele that is growing is a sure sign of success. It says that you are reaching your target market. The long-term growth of your salon is tied directly to your ability to not only reach your target market, but to expand your clientele to accommodate your long-term goals. Without an ever-expanding customer base, your success will be limited, at best. Customer Satisfaction
 The satisfaction of your customers is an indication that your company understands the needs of your salon clients, which is crucial to the strength of your business. Just remember: Happy clients tell a few people about their positive experience while unhappy ones tell at least 20. Having strong customer service polices will help insure the success of your company. Employee Satisfaction
 If you have employees, it’s important to do everything in your power to keep them happy with their job. Employee satisfaction spills over into the work environment and is contagious to others. Unhappy employees, on the other hand, become a major problem for moral. Develop a work environment that rewards employees for their hard work and let them know that they are appreciated, that way they are much more likely to go the extra mile for you. Owner Satisfaction
 Much like with your employees, if you’re happy, the work environment is happy. On the other side of things, if you’re not pleased with your business, it won’t be long before your dissatisfaction affects everyone else, including salon customers. Every once in a while do a reality check to identify the source of any dissatisfaction and then make the needed changes before it’s too late.  
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Salon Social Media Strategizing

Surprisingly, few salons take full advantage of social media and its potential reach.  In today’s day and age, that’s simply shocking! It just takes some time, effort and upkeep to allow it to work for you. Although most salons do have a website, their social media presence usually remains scattered at best. Too many times an old Facebook page sits dormant, twitter account remains tweet-less and Pinterest goes unpinned, while younger staff dabbles instead on Instagram and other platforms for their own benefit. In such a case, there may be an occasional makeover or up-style posted, but those are usually found on personal accounts mixed in with food posts, cute puppy snaps or what should be private rants. Not exactly the most professional presence for a business! If your salon does not already have a social media presence, it’s time to step up with one. And if they do have social media accounts, it may be time to fine-tune the existing presence to be more professional looking and effective. Here are a few suggestions: Handle This Much like a business is all about location, location, location, social media is about being found, liked, followed and, hopefully, shared. In order to be shared, your business profile must be easily found. If you don’t already have them, set up accounts on all major social media platforms using easy to remember and, if possible, consistent handles (@YourSalonName). Brand Power Consider setting up your profile with your actual logo, not just a picture of your logo, and a “hero” or beauty shot of your salon or the benefits from your salon (hint: it’s great hair). Align your profile if possible with brand colors and make sure your logo and or signage appears occasionally in posts to keep the profile / page branded. In the case of your salon Facebook page, fill in the section that allows you to post your salon hours, location, summary, etc., and then swing around and add pricing information as a note. If the salon pricing changes, be sure and update this section right away. In addition to the summary “about us” for all social platforms, be sure and add links whenever possible to other social media platforms, as well as your salon webpage. That way everybody can find more information about your salon, maybe even book an appointment, with little effort. Consistency is Key Once a presence has been established, set up a regular schedule of posts at least a few times a week. Don’t just wait for something to happen…Plan ahead: Like a month at a time. Also, assign others the task of keeping up the presence if you are too busy. It can be the regular duties of your receptionist, a responsible assistant or anyone on staff who has the desire. Or, perhaps you assign it on a rotating basis so you get the benefit of multiple admins. You can also hire an outside social media specialist to do it for you. Regardless, just remember to set standards and to give them the needed ammo to keep up the posts. Here are some ideas for possible social media posts that salons may wish to consider:

Amazing Hair

Any time a client makes a major change, show it off with a before and after post. Same thing for really great cuts, color, special occasion styles, first haircuts, etc. If you find it of interest, your clients likely will too! Shoot it, brand it (your salon logo), tag it, post it!

Events and Happenings

Document events, happenings, classes, parties, etc. at your salon – Everything from your grand opening to any special occasion. Snap away and post accordingly, making sure to use appropriate hashtags, captions and tags.

Product Information

If your salon sells retail, consider posting highlight products. Pick a specific product and create a quick post about how to use it, what hair types it’s best for, etc. You can pull imagery and information from the manufacturer’s website and create your own customized artwork and post. Also, be sure you are following any brand that your salon carries on the manufacturer’s social media. That way you can share posts from their site: Product info, styling tips, collections, videos, etc. There’s a wealth of knowledge on these sites, so take advantage of what’s available.

Promotions and Special Offers

Always have some sort of promotion going on, that way you not only have something to talk about but it also helps sell through slower moving product or introduce new ones. The promotion can also be for services, either to help build newer stylists, or to increase add-on services, which is always good for the salon’s bottom line.

Giveaways

Nothing gains followers and engagement quite like giveaways. Consider offering an occasional giveaway for salon products or services or even assemble a gift basket for special occasions (Mother’s Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc) and raffle them off for the highest amount of online referrals, etc.

Seasonal and other Trends

Since your salon is in the business of making others beautiful, your staff needs to always be on the forefront of trends. And as trendsetters, make occasional statements about what’s coming next with all asspects of cuts, color and styling.  Show off the latest trends in fringes, layers for long hair, curling techniques, or even color and color placement for the season. The options really are endless!

Reviews

There are plug-ins and apps that can be added to some social media platforms that allow users to do reviews. Be sure you are taking advantage of these features. Also, be sure you have a Yelp presence, as you can post links to any of your salon’s reviews on social. It makes for highly credible content!

Here are some more ideas:

Show off how the salon is decorated for any holiday Announce new hires or new salon services Ask for referrals / Ask followers to invite others Offer quick styling tips and techniques Give seasonal hair care advice (moisturizing in the winter, etc)

Have any social media strategies that have worked well for you? Do tell!  
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How to Successfully Open a Salon

Have you always dreamed of owning your own salon? Before signing that lease or ordering your business cards, ensure your success by avoiding the risks and pitfalls faced by many small businesses during the startup phase. Here are some of the main reasons small businesses fall short right out of the gate: Not Enough Capital Many new salon owners launch their businesses with the misconception that the business will grow and profit despite major under-funding. Without proper funding, you will not have all of the needed resources to help your business properly launch, let alone prosper and you risk potential failure. To acquire the required resources, capital will need to be raised from various sources. Beyond your own savings, consider financing through a bank or private funds, and even from family and friends. Do be careful not to put all of your funds into the salon, as you’ll have nothing should things go south, so to speak. Lack of Planning Informed planning is essential in starting your salon so begin with market demographics and cost estimates, which can be resourced from your local chamber of commerce. Bad Location   For a salon, location is everything! Lower rent payments mean nothing if you don’t have any customers or if clients, let alone staff, have nowhere to park. Before deciding on a location, check into what major draws are around you (for walk-in traffic), how secure the area is at night, what sort of issues or even planning the city or shopping center has for any developments that may affect you and your location. Not Knowing Your Competition You have to be prepared to deal with competition, which can be tough when you’re the new guy on the block. It’s best to know what you’re up against, so take the time to get to know your competitors. Take note of what they’re doing right, and how you can position your business to get a piece of the same market. Not Getting the Word Out Even though word-of-mouth promotion is the most credible way to grow a loyal clientele, it does not pay your rent while trying to initially build. Be sure and allocate funds for advertising, promotions and social media to spread the word even faster. Not Anticipating Growth Although you shouldn’t count on it to happen right away, you do need to be ready with a plan in case your business grows quickly. Otherwise you could have chaos on your hands or, even worse, it could cause your business to self-destruct from the inside out. The only way to avoid this problem is to plan early on for growth so you will be prepared for it when it does come. Do you have any other words of advice for those looking to open a salon?  
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Quote-able Success

Some great motivational and success-driven quotes that are appropriate for why we, as hairdressers and or as salon owners, do what we do….

 You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them. ~Michael Jordan

 Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. ~George Bernard Shaw

 The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place. ~Guy Kawasaki

 The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. ~Mark Caine

 People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. ~Tony Robbins

 Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. ~Swami Vivekananda

 Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. ~Jim Rohn

 The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. ~Denis Watiley

 Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. ~Jim Ryun

 People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. ~Dale Carnegie

Have a favorite success-oriented quote you’d like to share? Sound off below!  
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Motivational Quotes – Success

In case you hadn’t noticed, this uplifting series of motivational quotes is all about, well, success! Enjoy!

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” ~Bruce Feirstein

“Successful entrepreneurs are givers and not takers of positive energy.” ~Anonymous

“Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” ~Vaibhav Shah

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~Anonymous

“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” ~Colin R. Davis

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” ~Ralph Nader

“To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like.” ~Mike Gafka

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” ~David Brinkley

“Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.” ~Anonymous

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” ~Robert Collier

 “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” ~Maya Angelou

“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” ~Vidal Sassoon

What are some of your favorite success-oriented quotes?
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To Profit on the Creative Side

As a “Creative”, as I like to call hairdressers or any artist in this or other mediums, we thrive on making people happy with what we create.  We live for chance to make others look their best and to be appreciated for these efforts. However, this gift of talent in one area is often met with a lack of aptitude on the business side of things. We tend to take things personally and have a hard time asking for the compensation we deserve in exchange for our time and effort. The only way to successfully thrive, let alone profit, in any creative field, including hair, is to separate the creative side from the business side: To think of the business as its own living, breathing entity that has to be fed and nurtured in order to survive, let alone flourish.  The creative side is just what you do, and hopefully love doing, in order to feed the beast (the business) and therefore feed yourself (and your landlord, bank, etc.). So, what are some ways to help with this balance? First, come to grips with the fact that this industry is all about increments of time, and since time is money, you need to charge enough for the service you provide in a certain amount of time in order to keep the business happy and healthy. If it takes you a half hour on average to do a men’s haircut, for example, that half hour of your time needs to have dollar figure attached, thus attaching a value to the service itself. The same holds true for more complex services, especially those that have direct costs associated. Take color for example. The pricing for your color service needs to take into consideration how much time it typically takes to perform that service PLUS the direct cost for the color itself.  In this case take an average of how much actual color a specific service requires and add the time it takes to perform that service. To figure the hourly rate needed to sustain your business, add up your business overhead expenses (rent, business insurance, utilities, towel service, wages, etc.) and divide that figure (per month) by the number of hours you aim to book per month. This model will work for a single chair salon or a chair rental situation. In the case of a multi-chair salon, divide again by the number of filled stations. That amount is what you have to (or each station has to) charge per working hour just to keep your doors open (or rent your station). It does not take into account any taxes that will be owed, any sort of a draw for your for own living expenses or commission owed to other stylists, let alone any profit. Now, refigure this hourly rate taking taxes into consideration, your living expenses (if you are a booth renter) or commission to other stylists (if you own a commission salon) and add 20% for a low-end profit. That’s your starting point for pricing. Anything more is icing on the cake…and anything less is killing your business.